Who: Reader X Zhang Yixing (Lay)
What: I think this one turned out a little fluffy
Chapter: 8
Storyline: After Lay suddenly collapses from exhaustion, you make it your duty to make sure he gets some well deserved rest before he goes back to work.

Y/N'S POV
You were sitting alone on the bench looking out at the water before you. You two hadn't been here for a long time, the first time you and Jong-dae ever came to this place was the day you found out your father died.
*Y/N's flashback*
This was a year into exo's career and you were getting them ready for their comeback performance; you had been super busy getting interviews set up, helping with the music videos, photo shoots and booking hotels and flights for the guys. Your father called you suddenly telling you he was coming to visit your brother and wanted to see if you guys could meet up. You had the guys finish early and asked the manager if he'd take over for you while you go meet your dad for lunch. He was hesitant at first but you were so excited and you hadn't seen him in so long so he gave in. You heard he moved back to Korea, for business reasons again, but you only got to meet him twice since you started working for Exo. You had about ten minutes before you had to meet him for lunch when you received a call from your older brother telling you your dad had been hit by a drunk driver and he was killed on impact. You started laughing, telling him that was a cruel joke to play and he shouldn't say such things but he was absolutely serious. After that, you hung up the phone before he could tell you anything else. Jong-dae was all over you giving you hugs and calling your name in your ear, just being an idiot. That is until he noticed you weren't acting the same. All the boys, even the manager noticed you were acting different. You only spoke when you had to but you mostly kept to yourself. You wouldn't look anyone in the eye either. Minseok had tried to get you to eat, Jongin tried fake flirting with you to get you to laugh, Tao had given you hugs and talked to you in Chinese. Kyungsoo and Yixing both offered to make you food but nothing anyone did worked.
Finally Jong-dae had had enough and grabbed you by the hand and pulled you away from the boys. He didn't make you talk, he didn't even bother to cover his face while in public. Once you passed the street filled with people, he sat you down on the bench and said,
"OK Y/N I'm worried about you so start talking; you were acting normal this morning but you're suddenly like this? You didn't even go meet your father for lunch you were so excited. Everyone is worried about you even the manager. What happened?"
"My older brother called me today just before we were supposed to meet up for lunch..."
"Yeah?"
The closer you got to speaking the truth the more tears rolled out of your eyes. Your vision blurred and Chen grabbed your face trying to wipe the tears away.
"My father's dead Chen."
You heard him exhale and he pulled you into his chest as you began to cry your eyes out. He didn't tell you things were going to be okay, he didn't tell you to stop crying, he held you close and tight and let you cry. He repeatedly told you,
"Go ahead and cry, I'm right here for you."
After you had finished crying you were exhausted, too exhausted to walk on your own so he gave you a piggy back ride back to the house. That was the first night you had stayed in his bed.
*end of Y/N's flashback*
By now it had probably been five years but the memory of it all still hurt your heart. The cool breeze blew and the smell of the water mixed with the smell of food coming from the restaurants. You were waiting for Jong-dae to come back. Yixing had told you to go on the date to fulfill your promise to Jong-dae and honestly you felt it was the right thing to do. The memory of how he comforted you when your father died had made things so clear for you. Jong-dae was your best friend in the world and, despite having slept with him, you understood that was all you really wanted him to be. He was the one that made you laugh when you were upset and comforted you in the worst moment of your life. You two held hands walking in the garden maze joking around and pulling each other back and forth trying to find a way out. Those laughs were genuine and they were laughs you didn't want to lose. You two shared drinks together, you shared food, you did things that only best friend could do to and for each other. You loved him dearly but it wasn't the kind of love he wanted.
Jong-dae came back with two ice cream cones in hand. He called your name like an excited child,
"Y/N-ah!"
You laughed standing up and walking over to him to grab the cone.
"You took a long time."
"Yeah I know I ran into some fans."
You chuckled while eating your ice cream. You liked just standing out there with him next to you. He wrapped his hand around yours and he lightly tugged you so you could walk with him. You two had walked all the way down to the end of the pathway when you tripped and dropped your ice cream. You looked at it, your mouth open wide.
"Damn it." you said pouting.
Jong-dae laughed at you and said,
"Here, you can have some of mine."
You took a bite from his and laughed wiping around your mouth because of the extra ice cream. He pulled out a napkin from his pocket and wiped your face for you. The both of you continued walking and talking about everything until you made it back to the garden maze. You walked in together trying to remember the way you came in. That was the best part about the maze, getting lost. Suddenly Jong-dae said,
"So I guess you made up your mind about who you want to be with."
You looked up at him, that was the part of the date you didn't want to deal with. You two hadn't spoken about the night before since you woke up. You both covered up the awkward atmosphere by talking about anything other than what happened. You had spent the morning with the guys since they had today off and Yixing had mostly left you alone. You believed this time it was more to help you come to terms with what was about to happen then it was too tease you like last night.
"Jong-dae." You sighed.
"Wait, just listen to me for a second."
You simply nodded,
"I love you Y/N, I do. I'm sorry for what happened last night I was caught in the moment but I don't regret a thing. I've loved you for so long,"
"Chen." this was only going to hurt more.
"Hold on," he sighed.
"You're my best friend and you are such an important part of my life that I can't stand the idea of losing you, even if I can't have you, even if it hurts to love you I can't lose you. So even though you don't choose me I want you to promise me no matter what, we'll always be friends."
You smiled at him and nodded,
"I promise, you're never going to lose me. We'll be friends forever."
You held out your pinky finger and he wrapped his around yours. Jong-dae smiled big and you grabbed his cheeks saying,
"pinchu pinchu."
He laughed like always,
"I love you Chen."
"I know, you're just in love with Lay."
You nodded, he pulled you into a hug. The walls of the maze guarding you both from the public eye. Jong-dae looked down at you and said,
"One more for the road?"
"Sure."
He smiled lifting your chin up and kissing you softly, slowly, savoring the taste of your lips understanding this would be the last time. His arms wrapped around you and yours wrapped around him. The sweetest kiss in the world from the sweetest man you'd ever known. You wished more than anything that he would find someone that would make his heart race. Someone he'd love ten times more than you so that he'd never feel the pain you had put him through. He deepened the kiss for a moment before finally pulling away. He had probably realized it himself that if he continued he wouldn't be able to let her go.
You and Jong-dae walked back to the house hand and hand, talking again about everything. You got in the house and most of the guys were gone. Jongin Kyungsoo and junmyeon were playing video games. Jongin said hi to you both and told you to join in but you passed. Minseok came over giving you a hug prompting you to let go of Jong-dae's hand.
"Are you two okay?" he asked.
You sighed and gave him a smile,
"I think we will be. Things heal over time."
"That's good, I was getting worried this was going to blow up. Most of the guys are still oblivious although, Chanyeol caught sight of your hickey yesterday." Minseok whispered.
You made a face, of course Chanyeol would spot it. The reason Minseok knew about it was because he saw the remnants of it this morning when you left to go change at home.
"Where's Yixing?" you asked.
"Out back."
You nodded and told him you'd be back. You made your way to the back and squinted at the sunlight blinding you. Yixing was in casual clothes leaning against the wall. Sehun was with him, Vivi in his arms. The two talking about places they want to go. Sehun turned to see you and you smiled.
"Hi Sehunie."
"Hi Y/N."
"Can I talk to Yixing alone for a minute?"
"Oh someone's in trouble." He said laughing.
He got up saying bye to you two taking Vivi with him. You sat down where Sehun was.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
You nodded,
"I've thought about this for a while Lay and I did a really crappy thing to both you and Chen. I didn't think through my actions which is out of the norm for me but I did and I ended up hurting you both. I really do care about you."
"But?"
"I think we should wait, I think we should let things heal between all of us before we go jumping head first into anything."
Yixing looked at you soaking in your words with a plain expression then nodded. You were silent for a second then you said,
"Did you know the person that hit my father was the same woman that my boyfriend at that time was cheating on me with?"
"What?" Yixing said shocked.
You nodded,
"I didn't even know you were in a relationship back then." he said.
"Yeah well truthfully I had put my job before my relationship so we were kind of drifting apart anyway but that didn't make it okay. They were both in the car when it rammed into my father, she died too but he'd made it out. He was in a coma for two months before he came too. He didn't remember the accident, or cheating on me. He bugged me for months without end after one of his friends filled him on what they had done."
"Y/N." he called your name sensing your pain.
The memory hurt, no matter how long it had been but there was a point to this. You felt him reach over and wipe a tear away from your face.
"My father was my entire world and in a second he was gone. If I hadn't put my job before my boyfriend he probably wouldn't have been in that car... When jongin asked why I didn't date and I said it was because I was too busy taking care of you I wasn't lying. I just wanted my job to be my life, I wanted to focus on taking care of you guys so that I didn't have to feel a damn thing ever again. Then I feel in love with you, and all I wanted to do was take care of you since the day I saw you crying. I haven't been clear and you have said it to me but I haven't said it back."
That entire time you were looking out at the world before you but now turned to him.
"I love you so much and that scares me."
"I'd never do anything to hurt you, you know that."
You nodded,
"I know that but I don't remember what it's like to be a girlfriend. I've already hurt the two people that mean everything to me. Jumping into a relationship right now would only cause you trouble."
He cupped your cheek,
"I want you to cause me trouble. You could shake heaven and hell and I wouldn't care. I'd still love you. If you need time I'll give it to you but remember Y/N forever and always you are only mine."
Yixing pulled you close to him and kissed you. His hand wrapping around your waist. His other hand in your hair pulling you in, kissing you deep, making you breathless. With a kiss like that, you definitely knew who's you were. He kissed you the way you wanted him to kiss you last night. He slowly parted his lips from yours and said,
"I love you Y/N."
You smiled at him. You wanted to be with him but right now this was for the best. It would give Jong-dae a chance to heal, it would give you and Yixing a chance to cope with what you had done. It was the best thing to do. Plus their promotions for their come back was going to get super heavy soon, neither one of you would be able to focus on each other the way you'd want to. Time was going to heal you both.